Mounting structure for a picture tube comprising mounting brackets and wedging straps therefor



March 23, 1965 E. a. MILLER, JR 3,175,036

MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR A PICTURE TUBE COMPRISING MOUNTING BRACKETS AND WEDGING STRAPS THEREFOR Filed Dec. 18, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l nnmnn F76 3 2 WW if I INVENTOR.

DP F March 23, 1965 E. B. MILLER, JR 3,175,036

MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR A PICTURE TUBE COMPRISING MOUNTING BRACKETS AND WEDGING STRAPS THEREFOR Filed Dec. 18, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /7 INVENTOR.

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JTTOR IY inexpensive frame and cabinet structure. 'sired that said structure be adapted to hold the picture structure. be set forth in detailed description, whereby it will become United States Patent 3,175,036 MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR A PICTURE TUBE COMPRISING MOUNTING BRACKETS AND WEDGING STRAPS THEREFOR Ellsworth B. Miller, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa., assiguor to Philco Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 159,948 Claims. (Cl. 178-7.9)

This invention relates to television receivers, particularly of the so-called direct-view type.

In such a device a front portion of a picture tube is held within a mounting frame which is associated with or forms part of the receiver cabinet. Heretofore the picture tube was usually mounted in the frame with the aid of a strap surrounding the front portion of the tube, tightly or permanently secured to said front portion of the tube, and removably connected to the frame and cabinet by suitable clips and brackets. The invention provides an improved, more economical and nevertheless exceptionally firm and safe combination of tube holding and enclosing elements.

It is a specific object of the improved combination to reduce the manufacturing cost of the tube envelope structure. To this end the invention dispenses with the former use of a strap tightly or permanently secured to the tube envelope. The new, principal tube holding element is a shaped ring of wire or rod material, freely removable from the tube as well as from the cabinet of 'the TV receiver.

1 It is another object of the improvement to obtain firm mounting of a picture tube withthe aid of lightweight,

It is also detube by means of hardware elements which are no more costly to make and use than the former strap combinations. It has indeed been found possible so to arrange certain inexpensive holder elements and brackets in the tube-mounting frame as to strengthen that frame very materially, while cooperating simply and effectively with the new tube holding ring.

Still another object is to allow rapid and easy exchange of picture tubes; this, too, has been found to be possible with the aid of the new holder ring and frame bracket structure.

The invention accordingly replaces the aforementioned strap by a retainer ring element which is freely removable from the tube as well as from the cabinet. The new ring element and associated brackets provide a novel kind of tube holding action, for which purpose the ring element is inserted and retained between a set of lugs on the tube envelope and a set of bracket surfaces in the frame This new insertion and arrangement will best clear how the invention has applied a basically simple mechanism in a new, eifective and economical way, and how it has facilitated manufacture of TV receivers. The

i description will be based on the drawings appended hereto, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective front view of a television receiver comprising the new tube mounting structure.

FIGURE 2 is a rear View showing certain elements of said structure on a larger scale. FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, perspective rear view of the mounting structure on a more enlarged scale.

FIGURE 4 is a still more enlarged, orthogonal rear As generally indicated by FIGURE 1, mounting brackets 1t? are secured to front inside corner portions of receiver frame and cabinet 11 to hold picture tube 12 and to mount said tube firmly, in proper relationship to the cabinet and the various electronic components thereof. Only a few components are indicated, reference being made to tuning and associated controls 13. Of course the cabinet also has provisions 14, 15 for loudspeaker means and a number of other elements, not shown. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 6, receiver frame structure 11 is constructed and arranged to have the screen of picture tube 12 inserted therein and closely to surround the same. The screen of course constitutes the front of said tube, and frame structure 11 accordingly has a front or forwardly facing surface, shown in FIGURE 1, and also has a back or rearwardly exposed surface facing toward the neck 45 of the tube as can be noted from FIG- URE 6. Similarly facing surfaces are provided on brackets 19 which mount the tube within the frame structure, as will be described hereinafter.

Tube 12 is shown as being of the type provided with an adherent face plate 16 (FIGURES 5 and 6). The face plate is a kind of transparent mask; it is used to minimize the danger of implosion of the tube and it also serves to reduce background reflection and, importantly, to facilitate'the mounting of the tube. For this latter purpose the tube, and as particularly shown the face plate thereof, has integrally formed and outwardly extending glass lugs or cars 17. In order to secure the face plate to the tube the rear surface of the plate is bonded to the front surface of the screen portion 18 of tube 12, as indicated at 19. i

In lieu of the former mounting strap, which could be held by lugs similar to those shown at 17', the invention provides a novel cooperation of the aforementioned mounting brackets it with lugs 17 and with a removable, shaped, semi-rigid tube holder ring 2b. The complete structure of this holder ring is shown in FIGURE 2, while its insertion between lugs 17 and portions of brackets 10 is best indicated in FIGURE 3.

As shown in the latter view, each bracket 10 comprises a plate structure or web 21 of approximately triangular shape, filling a corner area in the front of cabinet 11. Vertical and horizontal side edges of this web extend respectively along vertical and horizontal frame members in cabinet 11. Said edges are strengthened by flanges 22, 22 which extend from web 21 in forward direction and which in turn have outwardly extending flanges 23, 24 thereon. The latter flanges of web 21 are directly secured, by means of fastening means 25, 26, to frame members or structural elements 27, 28 of the cabinet structure 11. Each corner bracket 10 thus becomes a rigid part of the cabinet, imparting strength to an otherwise light and inexpensive cabinet frame structure. The web or body portion 21 of each bracket lltl lies substantially in a vertical, frontal plane of the cabinet.

Rearwardly extending from said plane, in the illustrated arrangement, are short arms 29, 30 which are integral parts of bracket 19. Their terminal portions provide small finger elements 31, 32, rearwardly spaced from said frontal plane and lying in a plane parallel thereto. Some lateral spacing is shown between said fingers, which spacing is approximately the same as the arcuate length of glass lugs 17 on tube 12. The space between fingers 31, 32 of each bracket 10 is shown as being occupied by a rigid arcuate bar 33, the ends of which can for instance be spot-welded to said fingers and the body of which serves as abutment for a lug 17 on picture tube 12.

According to this arrangement, then, the said tube 12 is installed by carefully introducing it into cabinet 11 (diagonally from a left hand region in front of FIGURE 1 and accordingly, diagonally from a left hand region in back of the rear view of FIGURE 3) and by thus bringing the several lugs 17 of the tube into contact with bars 33 of the several mounting brackets 10. An ornamental frame element 34 may then be attached to the front of cabinet 11 as indicated in FKGURE l. The tube is fastened to the inside of the cabinet by means of the new, removable holder 20, which is inserted from the rear portion of the frame structure (that is, diagonally from a right hand region in front of the rear view of FIGURE 3 This holder is shown in FIGURE 2 as a continuous, polygonally bent ring, comprising sections 35 of wire or rod material, surrounding the front portion of tube 12, and having a pair of ends 36, 3'7 interconnected by a removable spring 38. Although the polygonal wire ring in some respects resembles a strap, it differs from earlier constructions in that the wire or rod material of the ring is strong enough substantially to maintain its preestablished, polygonal form when the ring is tensioned around the tube by spring 38.

Preferably the polygonal form includes slightly curved, inwardly convex corner portions 39, overlying lugs 17 of tube 12 and continuous with wire or rod portions 35, 46. Resilient sleeves 41 are shown on these corner portions 39. Such sleeves can he slipped onto a generally rectangularly preformed wire unit or tube holder ring, prior to the forming or bending of spring connector ends 36, 37. Curved corner portions 39 and sleeves 41 carried thereby serve as tube-mounting wedges, as will be described presently. Intermediate wire or rod portions 35, 4t) serve to hold these corner portions or wedges in position and to complete tube holding ring 20.

It will be understood from consideration of FIGURES 2 and 3 that holder ring 20 can readily be installed in cabinet 11 when tube 12 has already been inserted, and that the holder ring is removable from the cabinet and from the tube. Initially, in order to facilitate insertion of the new, removable holder ring 20, spring 38 can be detached from one of the wire ends, for instance from end 3'7; the holder ring 243 is then open. The opening can then be introduced, forwardly into cabinet frame 11, which surrounds and houses the front end of tube 12. Here the ring can be brought to a position directly in back of the body or plate or web 21 of each mounting bracket 10. The ends 36, 37 of the inserted ring are then reconnected by spring 38, thereby drawing corner portions of the ring into the narrow spaces between plates 21 and lugs 17. Ring 20 is thus inserted or clamped, with tight fit somewhat similar to that of a wedge, between the rear surfacesdZ of webs 21 and the front surfaces of lugs 17, as is most clearly indicated by FIGURES and 6. More particularly: front surface areas of metallic ring portion 39, at each corner of tension ring 20, are pressed against rearwardly facing bracket surfaces 42; at each corner, an inclined rear surface portion of resilient insulation 41 on said ring portion 39 is pressed against an inclined portion of forwardly facing glass surface 17'; and because of the inclination of the latter surface portions, ring corners 39, 41 are in effect wedged between surfaces lying in mutually intersecting planes A and B.

By means of the so established arrangement the lugs 17 of tube 12 and corner portions 39, 41 of holder unit are clamped in, so as to react between rear surfaces 42 of the rigid mounting brackets 1t and front surfaces 43 of the rigid, arcuate bars 33. Direct contact is provided at threepoints of each corner portion 39 of holder ring or unit 26. At the two ends of each wire corner portion 39, a wire portion 35 or 49 of the holder is in contact with bracket rear surface 42, directly. Between said ends, sleeve 41 on wire portion 39 elastically presses glass lug 17 against front surface 43 of bracket bar 33.

The free length of each corner portion 39 of holder 20, between these contact surfaces 42, 43, can be relatively short, so that holder 2t) can be made of fairly thin wire or rod material and can yet provide adequate holding action. By means of these features, tube 12 is effectively prevented from moving either forwardly (being held by elements 41, 39, 35, or 44 42 and 10) or rearwardly (being held by elements 43, 33, 31, 32, 29, 3t) and 10).

Secure, removable mounting of tube 12 is thus obtained by lightweight cabinet structure and hardware and Without the former need for a strap tightly or permanently secured to the tube. Breakage of lugs 17 is effectively prevented by the preferred, resilient construction 41 of the lug-engaging, rod-like corner members 39. This new kind of mounting is available even if the picture tube is somewhat cumbersome, for instance due to the provision of heavy yoke structures 44 on neck 4-5 of the tube as indicated in FIGURE 6. The new, removable mounting ring can be inserted, wedged in, removed, and re-inserted in a few seconds.

While only a single embodiment of the invention has been described, it should be understood that the details thereof are not to be construed as limitative of the invention except insofar as is'consistent with the scope of the following claims.

I claim: 1

l. A mounting structure for a picture tube, comprising an approximately rectangular frame constructed and arranged to have the screen of said tube inserted therein and closely to surround said screen to support the tube; a series of rigid mounting brackets, one in each corner of said frame, secured thereto, rigidifying the same, and each providing a first surface facing toward the neck of the so -supported tube, and a second and oppositely facing surface, spaced from the first surface both peripherally of said screen and in the direction toward said neck, whereby mounting lugs secured to the picture tube can be positioned between the planes of said first and second surfaces of the several brackets; a series of wedges, each removably inserted with tight fit between one of said planes and one of said lugs; and ring structure for normally holding the so-inserted wedges to hold said lugs against the other plane and thereby to hold the picture tube in the frame.

2. A mounting structure as described in claim 1 wherein said wedges are part of said ring structure.

3. A mounting structure as described in claim 2 wherein said ring structure is shaped to provide an outline thereof similar to that of said frame, said ring structure having diagonal corner portions to provide said wedges, and said corner portions being curved to present convex outlines to the inside of said ring.

4. In combination with a picture tube having a series of small lugs outwardly extending therefrom: a cabinet frame structure for support of said tube and presentation of the screen-thereof, said structure having an inside .which provides a set of surfaces facing toward the neck of said tube, and which further provides a set of opposite ly facing surfaces, one of these sets of surfaces having said lugs in contact therewith, the other set comprising surfaces slightly spaced in directions both axial and peripheral of the tube from the corresponding surfaces of said one set; and a picture tube retainer structure substantially consisting of rod-like material and removably holding said lugs in said contact by reacting between the lugs and surfaces of the other set.

5. Apparatus as described in claim 4 wherein'said cabinet frame structure includes a light-weight cabinet and a set of rigid brackets secured to the inside of said cabinet, each bracket providing at least a portion of said several sets of surfaces and also providing stiffening means for the lightweight cabinet.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,654,880 Eisenkramer Oct. 6, 1953 

1. A MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR A PICTURE TUBE, COMPRISING AN APPROXIMATELY RECTANGULAR FRAME CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO HAVE THE SCREEN OF SAID TUBE INSERTED THEREIN AND CLOSELY TO SURROUND SAID SCREEN TO SUPPORT THE TUBE; A SERIES OF RIGID MOUNTING BRACKETS, ONE IN EACH CORNER OF SAID FRAME, SECURED THERETO, RIGIDIFYING THE SAME, AND EACH PROVIDING A FIRST SURFACE FACING TOWARD THE NECK OF THE SO-SUPPORTED TUNE, AND A SECOND AND OPPOSITELY FACING SURFACE, SPACED FROM THE FIRST SURFACE BOTH PERIPHERALLY OF 